United States Attorney Jay E.

Town
Northern District of Alabama

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Peggy Sanford

DATE: September 7, 2017 PHONE: 205-244-2020
www.usdoj.gov/usao/aln FAX: 205-244-2171

Former Alabama Legislator Pleads Guilty to Bribery Conspiracy, Fraud and Tax Evasion
BIRMINGHAM A former Alabama legislator pleaded guilty today in federal court to
accepting bribes from a Birmingham lawyer and an Alabama coal company executive in
exchange for advocating their employers opposition to EPA actions in North Birmingham. U.S.
Attorney Jay E. Town, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. and Internal Revenue
Service, Criminal Investigation, Acting Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey announced the
plea.
Former state representative OLIVER L. ROBINSON JR., 57, of Birmingham, entered his
guilty pleas before U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon to conspiracy, bribery and honest
services wire fraud. The U.S. Attorneys Office charged Robinson in June for accepting a
valuable contract between the Birmingham law firm Balch & Bingham and the Oliver Robinson
Foundation to influence and reward Robinson for using his position as a member of the
Alabama House of Representatives, vice-chairman of the Jefferson County Legislative
Delegation, and as an elected representative of citizens of Birmingham to pressure and advise
public officials to oppose the Environmental Protection Agencys prioritization and expansion of
a North Birmingham EPA Superfund site.
Robinson represented Alabamas House District 58 from 1998 until he resigned Nov. 30,
2016. As part of his plea, he agrees never again to seek elected office and to pay restitution and
forfeiture in amounts to be determined. He is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 7 and remains free
on bond.
This lamentable pursuit of self-interest masquerading as beneficial for the little guy is
more than a violation of our laws. This was a violation of the public trust and among the worst
breaches of our social contract, Town said. All those engaged in public corruption must be
brought to justice, and it matters not their benefactor or station.
The FBIs stance on public corruption is that of zero tolerance and therefore it is one of
our highest priorities, Sharp said. Public corruption is among the most serious of criminal
violations and a betrayal of the publics sacred trust. If allowed to spread unchecked, it can
threaten the foundation of our government. The FBI continues to aggressively pursue those
who participate in this type of crime.
 "The enforcement of tax administration is compromised with every attempt to undermine
the tax system," Dorsey said. "Engaging in public corruption does not qualify as a tax
exemption. The totalities of Mr. Olivers actions are egregious, devastating, and disappointing
to the community in which he promised to serve."
Outside of the bribery charges, Robinson also pleaded guilty today to two counts of wire
fraud for spending $17,783 of campaign contributions on personal items unrelated to his
legislative campaigns. He pleaded guilty to a third wire fraud count for soliciting money from
corporations, representing he would use it to publish a magazine or to defray costs for an
annual Partnering for Progress Business Conference or the annual Alabama Black Achievers
Awards Gala, which the Oliver Robinson Foundation sponsored. Robinson spent at least
$250,000 of those contributions on personal items unrelated to the magazine or the annual
events. Robinson also pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion for the 2015 calendar year.
According to Robinsons plea, the bribery conspiracy occurred as follows:
EPA designated an area of North Birmingham, including the neighborhoods of Harriman
Park, Fairmont and Collegeville, as a Superfund site after finding elevated levels of arsenic, lead
and benzo(a)pyrene during soil sampling.
In September 2013, EPA notified five companies, including ABC Coke, a division of
Drummond Company, that they could potentially be responsible for the pollution. A company
determined to be responsible for pollution within the site, known as the 35th Avenue Superfund
Site, potentially faced multi-million dollar clean-up costs and fines.
In July 2014, EPA began considering the petition of a Birmingham environmental
advocacy group, GASP, to expand the Superfund site to the Tarrant and Inglenook
neighborhoods. EPA granted that petition in October 2014 and contracted with the Alabama
Department of Environmental Management to perform the preliminary assessment.
In September 2014, EPA proposed adding the Superfund site to its National Priorities
List, signaling that it required priority attention. Placement on the priorities list would allow EPA
to use the federal Superfund Trust Fund to conduct long-term cleanup at the site, provided the
State of Alabama agreed to pay 10 percent of the costs, which could equal millions of dollars.
EPAs decision on priority listing for the site remained pending throughout the scheme.
Balch & Bingham represented Drummond and ABC Coke in relation to the 35 th Avenue
site. A partner at Balch & Bingham, identified in the charges as Attorney #1, coordinated the
response to EPAs actions on behalf of ABC Coke and Drummond Company. A Drummond
Company executive, identified as Drummond Employee #1, was involved with the attorney in
responding to EPA. They formed the Alliance for Jobs and the Economy as a tax-exempt
corporation in 2015 to raise money to help fund their opposition to the EPA actions, according
to the charges.
The strategy employed by the attorney and the Drummond executive focused on
protecting ABC Coke and Drummond from the tremendous potential costs associated with
being held responsible for pollution within the affected areas. They sought to accomplish this
goal by working to prevent EPA from listing the 35th Avenue site on the National Priorities List
and expanding the Superfund site into Tarrant and Inglenook.
The plan included advising residents of North Birmingham and public officials to oppose
EPAs actions. As part of the overall strategy, Balch & Bingham paid Robinson, through his non-
profit foundation, to represent Balch & Binghams and its clients interests, exclusively, in
matters related to EPAs actions in North Birmingham. Over the course of the contract in 2015
and 2016, Balch & Bingham paid $360,000 to the foundation.
One of the first tasks assigned to Robinson under the contract was to appear before the
Alabama Environmental Management Commission and the director of the Alabama
Department of Environmental Management in February 2015 to advance Balch & Binghams
and its clients opposition to the Superfund proposals. In that appearance, Robinson said he
was really here today to try to protect the residents of north Birmingham. He said, [T]he
thing that gets me and what is in the process of hurting the residents in that area is that the
EPA has included five other corporations in on this process, but there have been no reports
stating that these individuals are culpable in any way. And where that hurts the residents is the
fact that we will have decades of litigation that will occur because of these five companies
being added.
Robinson asked the AEMC to help narrow the list of potentially responsible parties if
there were no reports or tests implicating the corporations. Concluding, Robinson told the
AEMC that if the areas of North Birmingham are designated as a Superfund site or listed on the
NPL, the residents are considered to live in a dump and nothing can happen there until its
either cleaned up and after that, it will take tremendous investment to get it to move forward.
Robinson concealed from AEMC and the ADEM director that Balch & Bingham and
Drummond were paying the Oliver Robinson Foundation to represent their interests
exclusively.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy is five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
The maximum penalty for bribery is 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The maximum
penalty for each count of wire fraud is 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The
maximum penalty for tax evasion is five years imprisonment and a $100,000 fine, together with
the costs of prosecution.
The FBI and IRS investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Martin,
Robin Beardsley Mark and John B. Ward are prosecuting.